


count three heartbeats

by InkWitch (serkestic)



Category: Ao Haru Ride
Genre: Canon Related, Drabble and a Half, F/M, Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:48:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28488570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serkestic/pseuds/InkWitch
Summary: They were cocooned by the shadows, but his eyes were intent on hers. She started when Kou said slowly, “You can run away if you don’t want to.”Runaway? From Kou?“If you want to,” he whispered. His low voice sank into her skin, raised it in trembles. “Close your eyes.”
Relationships: Mabuchi Kou/Yoshioka Futaba
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	count three heartbeats

Well, the first one didn’t count. She didn’t want to count it. It was a fleeting bump of skin and flesh, no impression of warmth or taste. She just noticed his eyes; flung open wide, shorn of their customary boredom or sleepiness; and he was staring at her. The music and noise had faded into a thin creeping pitch that shuddered in her eardrums. Then, he had pulled back, his face smoothening out like nothing had collided—neither in the universe, nor in his chest, nor between them—and she was left with a startling impression of her heart thrashing inside her like a caged animal.

_An accident?_

Futaba hated her heart at that moment. It was wild and irresponsible and let Kou steal all of its heartbeats whenever she wasn’t paying attention. When he left, the air left in his spot stung and drew all her senses. She drew a deep breath and let it go, counting out her slowing reckless pulse. _One, two, three_ …

And then the idiot, he appeared once again. Futaba barely heard his muttered words— _what if it wasn’t an accident? Huh? What?_ —before their mouths met again. Only this time, she felt it: the heat of his palms against her wrists, his mouth moving carefully, uncertainly over hers, pressing in for a second, no wait, three…? She felt drawn in a thousand different directions in that moment. Her heart jangled, caught between excitement and hurt.

Kou moved back and met her gaze. “Now… you can’t say nothing happened.”

…What? She could only stare at him. The pounding in her chest was distracting and she couldn’t focus on counting down to calmness. Kou was too near, god he was _too near_ , and she didn’t know what to look at.

“I…”

“…”

“That’s not fair!” What was she saying? Why can’t she control her mouth? “I didn’t know you were going to kiss me!”

She wanted him to move away, give her some room to inhale. But Kou only pulled closer. “Then…” She looked up and immediately knew it was a mistake. His sweet gaze locked her breath in her throat. “Let’s do it again.”

Futaba watched the tinge of red splashing across Kou’s face, staining his ears. They were cocooned by the shadows, but his eyes were intent on hers. Idiotically, she wondered what he was thinking. She started when Kou said slowly, “You can run away if you don’t want to.”

Run _away_? From Kou?

Her body seemed to have frozen in anticipation. She could only stare at him in fascination, study the dips and planes of his face, wonder at his blush that deepened with every passing second. But he didn’t look away from her, not once.

“If you want to,” he whispered. His low voice sank into her skin, raised it in trembles. “Close your eyes.”

Futaba’s traitor heart had quietened but shook in the bottom of her throat. As if fear had crawled in from somewhere. She instinctively drew back against the wall, conscious of her pulse against Kou’s skin. _One, two…_

Futaba closed her eyes. _Three_.

When he kissed her, she made sweet rustling sounds from her throat, like he’d pulled all her breath out of her body. As if Futaba was breathing her essence into him. Kou could feel the temperature rise in him, degree by degree. Her mouth moved under his in curious, gentle, intent pressure. His mind was a mess of feeling and focus. All he could think about was her softness and how much he wanted to press into it, bury himself under it. Kou pulled Futaba closer without thinking, his hands cupping her neck. His thumb traced stars and circles on her smooth skin, even as he pinned her to him, taking her kisses and pretending he had the right to. In a vague corner of his mind, he knew he had to release her at some point and that time of some sort was passing them by. But there was no measure, and Kou was busy not thinking.

His thumb settled on her jugular. Futaba’s pulse knocked against him. Every part of him was aflame and shuddering. He counted out her heartbeat. It drove him to the end.


End file.
